Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy 2025 Conference Call for Papers: "The Individual and the Spirit of Innovation"

Anytime the names Pittsburgh and Wright come together it is hard not to think of two others, namely Fallingwater and Kaufmann. The four are united in a special statement about the role that business and personal innovation play in building community. The story of Frank Lloyd Wright’s life and career is entwined with those of so many other creative individuals, people in all fields who struck out on their own paths of action and self-discovery. People that opened new doors for others, building our neighborhoods, our communities, our cities, our cultures along the way. This was certainly the case with his experience in the great American city of Pittsburgh, beginning with the architectural triumph of his design of Fallingwater for Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann in the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania. The lives and interactions of Wright and the Kaufmanns changed the trajectory of American architecture.

Wright held hope that enlightened people of business could work to improve the dignity of everyday life as Americans of “business with unspoiled instincts and untainted ideals.” Wright clearly saw Edgar Kaufmann, Sr., as a member of that group, along, no doubt, with Darwin Martin, Aline Barnsdall, Herbert Johnson, Harold Price, Solomon Guggenheim and others. Together they contributed to placing America on par with some of the more noteworthy centers of culture in the world, places such as Paris, Vienna, Berlin or Rome. These are examples of people whose own creativity and voyages of discovery made possible the realization of landmark buildings across the country.

This year the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy will look at the history, fabric and physical environment of Pittsburgh through the intertwining of personal growth and its impacts. This is a focus on the choices we make and the influence these have on the world around us. Pittsburgh’s stunning natural surroundings, its growth over time and remaking of itself these last several decades contain stories that can be told through the lives of its many residents, some of whom went on to shape aspects of American experience in the 20th century broadly. How has the city and its dramatic geography of hills overlooking the confluence of three rivers provided opportunity for individual self-discovery, self-definition and growth through creative work? What have been the consequences and outcomes of these on the form and character of communities in Pittsburgh and beyond?

We invite you to use biography – of people and of buildings – to tell stories of Pittsburgh’s origins from the late nineteenth-century rise of industry and the age of philanthropy, through periods of social strife and decline, to the many facets of its ongoing rediscovery and revitalizations in the twentieth century and today. Among those creative individuals whose life choices have had positive impacts on American life and its architecture were architects like Wright and H.H. Richardson, and their clients such as Edgar Kaufmann, Sr.. The impact of Wright’s Taliesin Fellowship through the contributions of Edgar Kaufmann, jr., Peter Berndtson, Cornelia Brierly and others is also noteworthy. A list of potential presentations might further include people of business and industry such as Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon or Henry Clay Frick; writers such as David McCullough, Rachel Carson and August Wilson; artists like Mary Cassatt and Andy Warhol; musicians like Stephen Foster, Stanley Turrentine and Art Blakey; or stars of the screen such as Fred Rogers. All are people whose own voyages of discovery have helped us become the people and culture we are. This continues with the people rebuilding Pittsburgh today through their works across a range of scales, activities and lifestyles.